Prof Siladitya Bhattacharya, a gynaecologist, and a team [at Aberdeen University] . . . found those who had experienced abortions were 33 per cent more likely to subsequently deliver pre-term than those who had never had an abortion.

They were also 44 per cent more likel to give birth extremely prematurely – before 34 weeks.

Their study showed that women who underwent surgical abortion were 27 per cent more likely to give birth prematurely in their next pregnancy than those who'd had a medical abortion. The team has not yet analysed the overall increased risk of pre-term birth for each type of abortion, compared to women who have not had an abortion.

The study, which looked at more than a million pregnancies, found that having one abortion led to a 34 per cent increased risk of having a premature birth compared to those pregnant for the first time.

And the risk is even higher for women who have had more than two abortions, the study said.

Peter Saunders, of Christian Medical Fellowship, commented: “We will of course have to wait to see the full study once it is formally published but this is a further huge reason why women seeking abortion must have access to fully informed consent from a neutral party which does not downplay the facts.”

The risk is increased enough, because of the abortion, that 10 percent of all women who have an abortion will give birth prematurely in their subsequent pregnancy that they carry to term, the researchers found.

The results, first reported Tuesday in the London Times, show the risk of premature birth in a pregnancy following an abortion increases substantially when women have more than one abortion. For the hundreds of British women who have four abortions or more, 20 percent of all women seeing to give birth will deliver prematurely, and premature births lead to an increase in the risk of newborn children having physical or mental disabilities.

Because of the previous abortion, the study also found women, in a next pregnancy, suffer from higher risks of stillbirth and pre-eclampsia, the blood pressure disorder that can further increase the risk of premature birth and occasionally threaten the lives of mothers and children.

According to the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, “One of the most egregious educational omissions from current medical education/residency program, or just plain from the American medical literature in general, is the association of induced abortion with subsequent preterm birth. It is a kind of ‘denial by silence.”